Halloween Highlander

Yet another great weekend has come and gone! This place is made for weekends.

Friday afternoon I jumped in Black Betty and cruised on over to Suncheon, city of beautiful people and current home of my friend Virginia (among others). The afternoon was a blast, as we jumped on Virginia's little red scooter and zipped off into the country side. Virginia even let me ride, with her on the back. Oh to be behind the handle-bars of something a bit faster than a bycicle.

As most of you people of the North American persuasion (and some from other parts) know, October 31st is Halloween. As most of my friends here are Canadian (or American) I thought I should probably get into the spirit and see what all this Halloween fuss was about.

So after a ride on a scooter, Virginia introduced me to the fun that is pumpkin carving. I'm not really sure if my pumpkin designs were quite up to Jack-O-Lantern standards, but I had fun.


Jakob checking out my Jack-o-lantern



That night we were joined by a motley crew of folks from Mokpo, Wando, Gwangyang, and of course other Suncheon-ites. We headed off to the first Halloween party of the weekend at Julianna's. Now I should mention, this is not the party I came for... it was just a taster for the big party later to come. But it was fun to see some of the costumes people had come up with for this event.



The next day I was up early and went for another spin on Virginia's scooter. This time I was by myself and got to see some beautiful scenery as the sun was rising up in the valley. Beautiful.





After some shopping, looking around, a test ride on a motorbike (FUN!) and eating amazing Indian curries (thanks Virginia) we were finally ready to head off to the main event of the weekend:

The World Famous 6th Yeosu Halloween Party Extravaganza!

This thing is talked about in every town and country.... well... in Jeollanamdo at least. Each year it is apparently bigger and better, and people go all out on their costumes.

Now I thought long and hard about my costume and went through a few different ideas, including Dharma Stu, the bug-eyed buddha dud from one of my previous posts. But after a long and fruitless search, no Buddhist surplus clothing store was to be found, so I fell back on a tried and tested costume.

The Highlander.

Some of you may have seen me dressed like this before. If not, go check out my walkabout wombat website.

This time however, I'm not living in Scottland, so it was a little more difficult to walk down to the nearest kilt shop and buy a kilt, sporran, long socks and all the other bits and pieces needed to look the part. Instead, I headed to the nearest school uniform making shop and bought 3 meters of tartan there. Now here's the amazing thing. In Scotland I paid about 150 Pounds Stirling for my tartan. That's about $300. Over here, I paid about 32,000 Korean Won. That's about $32. And it's only a tad lighter than the original material I bought in Scotland. Where do you think I'll be going next time I want a Kilt made?



Ok. I now have my material. All I need to do is hem the edge so it doesnt frey on me. Oh wait... I don't have a sewing machine. But the school does. Would you believe, when I explained to my co-teacher I was trying to make a halloween costume, not only did she organise for me to be able to use the sewing machine, she also gave me the day off to make my costume. How cool is that?

Now my 3 meters of material has a seam. Not bad considering I've not used a sewing machine since I was 13 (and even then I failed my class). Now for the hard part. Where do I get a sporran? After a trip into Gwangju to look for some leather, and finding out it costs almost as much as buying a whole cow back in Australia, I resorted to my second option of trying to find an old lounge chair that I could cut up. In the end I found a vinal seat that I was able to cut up and make into a sporran.



I didn't do a bad job either, if I do say so myself.

After a number of hours spent happily cutting and stitching leather, putting on face paint and making jewelry, I was finally set. My Highlander Costume complete.



We arrived in Yeosu booked into our hotel and headed off to the party. Well, it was a sight to behold. People from every part of Jeollanamdo and in every kind of costume you could think of... and some you probably wouldn't. Who was that in the Milk carton?

Nicola even managed to win 2nd prize for best costume with her rendition of "Fan Death".


"Fan Death" For those of you who don't know,
Koreans believe that if you sleep with a
fan on and the windows closed, you will die.
This is not a superstition. They truely believe it!

It was another amazing night of meeting new friends,



catching up with old friends,



drinking



and the obligatory end of the night Nori bang.



What fun to be had.

Anyway, enough of my ranting, go check out my flickr site for all the pics.

Walkabout Wombat

I've almost completed my website for those who are interested. It's basically a place to store and show off my photos.

www.walkabout-wombat.com

(link is also to the right for future use).

Playing Catch-up

Ok, so I've been slack in updating my blog in the last couple of weeks. What can I say... I've been a busy little social butterfly. So the run down since the beginning of the month.

Chusok.

Chusok (or Chuseok depending on who you talk to) is the Korean version of thanksgiving. But unlike America and Canada, this version goes for almost a whole week. It's when they have their harvests and then have a big feast and hang out with friends, family and their dead ancestors. A great party by all accounts.
I've already talked about my Chusok in the previous post... so enough said.

Canadian Thanksgiving

So as you all know, I got my job through a company called Canadian Connections. Run by Canadians. From Canada. As you can guess, that means Aussies are a bit thin on the ground here, while the Canadians rule the roost. So when Canadian Thanksgiving came around we all decided to celebrate in true Canadian style....
Eat lots and drink lots.
I love these people!
On the Saturday, I hung out with my friends and climbed Yudalsan. A small "mountain" in Mokpo.


Yudalsan

Virginia had her Mum over from Canada, so we spent the day showing her around the nice little city of Mokpo.

Then in the evening it was on to the P-bar for one of the best feasts I've had since I've been in Korea. There was chicken, mashed spuds & gravy, broccoli and cheese sauce, salads, more chicken.... the list goes on.


Canadian Thanksgiving

And when we had finished stuffing ourselves with the great foods, we over stuffed ourselves with amazing desserts. Great stuff!

The next morning I think we felt a little guilty for eating so much, so we headed out to play some Ultimate (Frisbee). Now I'm not sure how you play it, and I've never played it before... but it seems the people in Mokpo have the most unusual version I've ever seen. They start off at a huge stadium, then walk down the street carrying the frisbee for about 10 minutes. Then when they get to a park and realise it's full, they turn around and walk back down the street looking for another park. When they get to that one, and see it's also full, they go on to find another park... After doing all this walking around (which I suspect is the real exercise) they finally go back to the original stadium and after negotiating with some of the staff there, they jump through a window to get into the center of the stadium and onto the pristine field.


Ultimate Frisbee at Yudal Stadium

How pristine is this field?
Well... after warming up for about 10 minutes, we get kicked back outta the stadium with the grounds keeper yelling (in Korean) what seemed like a tirade along the lines of "Not only am I gonna lose my job for this, but they are gonna kill me in the process."
Apparently they had just laid new grass and the roots hadn't yet taken. We were literally the first to ever had played on that field.
So out we went and into the grassy area beside the car-park, where we finally played some Ultimate. Or at least a modified version of it.

School Picnic

Our school went on a "picnic". Now I'm not sure what the term "picnic" brings to mind for you, but I think going out into a nice remote area with trees and maybe a beach or stream. Baskets of food with a blanket on the ground. Everyone playing games and eating and drinking...

A Korean picnic? Well, it seems to consist of hoping on a bus. Driving for 2 hours to see a display of highschools in the area that the kids may want to go to when they graduate middle school. Then hoping back on the bus for an hour drive to Boseong Tea Plantation.


Boseong Tea Plantation

Here they hop out, go for a 10 minute walk into the tea feilds where they have their photo taken. Walk 10 minutes back to the bus and drive the hour back home. Fun.

Atleast the Bus Noriban (Kareoke) was entertaining.


Mary's Birthday

The Beautiful Mary from Mokpo had her birthday last weekend, so it was back down to the "party city" of Jeollanamdo for another bash. We started the night at a beautiful little restaurant where the owners made the grave mistake of telling us the whole place was ours. And so we took over.
Well, not really. We were quite well behaved, but being a bunch of Waygooks, I'm sure we intimidated most of the locals in the area.



Mary's Birthday Bash

After a nice diner we decided to move on to a bar. We went over the other side of town to a bar called Plastic. What kind of a place is Plastic? Well, it looks very nice, but looks can be deceiving.
When I got there, I was entertained by a little Korean boy (about two years old) who reminded me very much of my youngest Nephew in his early years. So I didn't really notice there was a bit of a commotion going on. Apparently the man at the door had come over and screamed at my friends to "GET OUT!". We are still rather confused by this as we were just sitting at a table and hadn't even started drinking yet. In fact, we hadn't even been able to order yet. Our friends at the table next door had a pitcher of beer, so we couldn't figure out why he'd decided the people at our table should leave.
A few minutes of confused milling around and he came back and once again screamed "GET OUT, GET OUT!" at us. Rather disappointed, we up and left the restaurant. Then the defiant Wagookness in all of us kicked in and we decided we weren't going quietly. We all trooped back into the stairwell of the restaurant / bar and about 25 of us proceeded to sing Happy Birthday on the top of our lungs to Mary.
As everyone knows, this song is designed to be sung as out of key and as loudly as possible. I'm not sure if we got a standing ovation from all in the restaurant, but by the time we left, the manager was standing at the top of the stairs with a phone in his hand. Somehow I don't think he was calling a recording studio to talk about the new talent he'd found in his stairwell.


Mary's Birthday Bash

Next it was on to P-club (P-club... sponsored by the Jeollanamdo Waygook Collective) for a more friendly welcome. And here we remained till the wee hours of the morning in great company and a happy atmosphere.

And that about brings me up to date.
Phew! That was a long one.

Big Post Coming Soon...






in the mean time, check out the photos on flickr

Seoul.... Been there - Done that.

I went to Seoul.

I was planning on heading up there for a couple of nights and watching some ice-hockey with a few Canucks. You might think it's a bit strange heading 400km's away to watch some hockey, but apparently it's a bit hard to come by in South Korea.

Unfortunately it was a bit hard to come by this night as well... The internet wasn't working and we couldn't watch it.

What to do?

Well, we were in a bar...


Dancin



Mmmm Molson.



A man with a happy face.



Another happy man.



Some lovely ladies.



Boys & their brew.



Come on Cathy... smile for the camera.



Cheers



Are you still taking photos?



Ya right Rob?



Awww... ain't they cute?



Wait!... this is my better side.



The Elusive Leah.


So after a late night and no sleep, due to the devil in dusgise as a mosquito... I didn't really feel like another big night out. Back on the train and home again in 3 hours. I love the high speed trains in this country. First time I've ever been 300km's per hour and not left the ground.

Wolchulsan... Again.


The crew

So I went to Wolchulsan.... again.


View from top

Had a great time.... again.


Lunch Time.

Met a heap of new people.... again


Nicola, Amy and Chang In
(sorry, not sure how to your name)

My legs were killing me the next day.... again.


View from top

I love this mountain. Thanks to all who came along.


Nicola doin a dance (as usual).

Yo Ho ho and a bottle of Soju?
Arrrh Me Harties, it be a wonderful day ta' be sailin the seven seas!

Ships Log
10th September of the year 2006

Capt'n Cutty Cutter
(Cruelest cur of the coasts and crests of the seven seas!)

"Tis be da voyage of yer life.

The hardie crew what be true pirates boarded the lovely little schooner "Koreana"






and, 'though vastly outnumbered, were able to wrest control of the ship from the sorry lookin land-lubbers, by simple force of loud and generally obnoxious behavior!



The lines were cast and we made a daring escape from da dangerous berth that be Yeosu Yacht Harbor.


Da call to hoist sails was made and with a few curses and harassin from Capt’n Firepants,





we soon set course to da remote isle known to the locals as "White Moss".



It was clear sailing all the way, and besides the late entry of two more buxom wenches to add to the host, der was not a problem to be had.

Anchor was dropped (kind of) and the crew let leave to make it ashore any way they wished.


O'course after a short half hour swim and none of the crew makin it half way to shore, da capt’n took pity and sent the longboat ta rescue the poor blighters.

Once all were safely ashore, ter was food to be had and land to be explored. Da day marched on and by mid afternoon, the crew were ready to be back on board. Sadly the treasure chest wasn't to be found. But not to worry, da fearless crew could not be daunted.

Off the prettiest little boat of the Korean seas set, bound again for the harbor. Entertainment abounded



with the buxom Capt'n Firepants dancing up a storm, and Cheatin' Dora Jones regalin us with tails of treasure and treason.



Arrrh t'was a good time had by all. Tanks to da hansom crew of Koreana."

A Summer Vacation Story

By Goulash

Once upon a time, a young(ish) man was working in a strange, small, ancient, foreign country sticking out from a grand and ancient empire. His job was nice and simple and he got many benefits from working there. The latest benefit was a holiday which stretched over the long summer month of August.

At the start of his holiday, he was excited about the prospect of jumping in his car, called “Black Betty”, and exploring all of this small country he found himself living in.

He visited many temples with unusual buildings and statues.








The people here were even more strange, as they walked around in their long robes and sang unusual, haunting songs.




He went around the countryside looking at mountains and lakes. Coaxing Black Betty along rugged tracks and up steep hills.


Black Betty rejoiced in being off those boring flat highways and went ever more into the challenging terrain. Never complaining or giving up on the difficult tasks put in front of her.


But Black Betty was a very thirsty car and had to stop often for a drink. After many drinks, the young man decided it cost to much money to drive all around the country, so he stopped at a beach for a rest.

He camped at this beach for a week.


With sand stretching away to the East,


and sand stretching away to the West,


he decided it was a very beautiful beach.

During his time at this beautiful beach, he saw many weird and wonderful things.

The first night, as the large moon was rising over the sea,


he saw many fish leaping out of the water and playing with the sparkling ripples on the surface. A beautiful sight.

During the day, he saw the funny people from this funny country play and frolic by the edge of the sea. The young man was amazed at how scared these people were of going out into the water.



In his home country, everyone loves playing in the big, pounding waves and has a lot of fun swimming out into the deep blue ocean. But here, the people are not allowed to go out very far, and when they do, they get very scared. Especially when the water is deeper than their heads. The young many realised, that although these people had lived all their lives on a peninsular surrounded by water, they were not very good swimmers.

Later he watched the local people drive down to the beach on funny looking vehicles.


These people got out and started collecting sea shells.


For hours, the young man watched these people wade out into the water and drag nets along the bottom of the sea to collect these shells.


Whole families helped. There were old grandmothers,


young ladies,


and even the little children helped.


And by the end of the day, there were thousands, millions maybe even billions of shells in big, brown tubs that the people then dragged home. What a feast they must have had, the young man imagined. Nothing like his simple dinners at night.


Each evening the young man watched the sun sink in the Western sky,


throwing up a dazzling display of colours,


as if to wave a happy farewell to the earth,


and promise that it will be back with a similar display in the morning.

However, on the last evening the young man stayed, there was no sunset. Just a mist that rolled in from the sea and enshrouded the land, giving it a mysterious atmosphere.


One could imagine sailing ships looming out of that mist at any time, come to try to conquer this land that has been taken so many times in the past, and yet somehow, holds on to its ways.

After such a long time at the beach, the young man decided to visit some friends in a city. Here he met with friends of old and enjoyed many beverages of an alcoholic nature. It was great to catch up with his friends, but like Black Betty's drinks, the young man's days of drinking were expensive and after a couple of late nights, he decided it was time for him and Black Betty to return home to the comfort of his own nice little apartment. Here he stayed until he had to go back to that nice, simple job with lots of benifits.

The End.